


Team RHRY: Chapter 3.5

by Pyrocore



Series: Team RHRY [2]
Category: BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, Persona 4, RWBY, Under Night In-Birth (Video Game)
Genre: Rated M for immaturity, Tag lacking because spoilers, enjoy, this fic is a joke
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-29 18:04:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18783370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pyrocore/pseuds/Pyrocore
Summary: In which Ruby prompts a discussion on swords and swordsmanship.





	Team RHRY: Chapter 3.5

The living area of the Domija residence was crammed. Around the low table Ragna, Hyde, and Ruby had recently finished demolishing Yu's culinary creations while he sat with them quietly. The three had started to relax and begun trading small talk. Arrayed around them was the Investigation Team in its entirety. Yosuke Yukiko, and Rise were sitting on the couch; Kanji and Naoto had brought some of the chairs from the kitchen closer; and Chie and Teddie were sitting on the floor.

“Damn, I haven't had a good meal in a while.”  Ragna leaned back from the table contentedly.

“We were - we were stuck in there for a day.” Hyde said trying to suppress a yawn.

“I know what I said.”

“Hey, Ragna?”

“What?” He said, not bothering to look over.

“Now that we're safe and all… can I check out your sword?” Ragna turned to look at Ruby and caught a face full of puppy eyes.

“Fine, just leave me alone now.” He picked his sword off the ground next to him and tossed it to her. He leaned back against the floor and closed his eyes.

Hyde glanced between the recumbent figure of Ragna and Ruby's ‘ooh’ing and ‘ahh’ing over the sword before straightening up. “I'll help you clean this up.” He offered.

“Thanks,” Yu responded with a warm smile.

The pair quickly cleared the table, at which point Ruby laid the weapon down and began examining the joints of it thoroughly.

“You said this unfolds into a scythe?”

“Yep.” Ragna responded without even opening an eye.

“That’s incredible. The seams where it unfolds are invisible. Did you make her? Does she have a name?”

“No, and Aramasa.”

“Then who made it?”

“No one did.” There was a pause.

“Umm, what?”

“How?”

“Explain.”

“Hey, how do you get this thing to unfold?”

“Don’t open it in here!” Cried Yu as Ruby started fiddling with that handle. The sound of a spring locking into place was all the warning anyone had.

 

_Shunck!_

 

The Investigation Team hit the deck as the blade of the sword shot forward along its spine until it was twice as long. The blade pivoted around the top. A red burst of energy, arced off the weapon for a split second, directly in front of Ragna’s wide open eyes. The energy sputtered and died, leaving only the metal blade and shaft.

“That’s weird, a scythe is supposed to have the sharp bit facing inwards. Ragna, I think some of the mechanics are backwards.” On the floor Ragna slowly counted to ten. Aramasa did not shoot forth anymore red energy.

“You’re supposed to hit enemies with the enemies with the red energy blade bit. Now, can you please fold it back up?”

“Oh, that makes more sense. Now let’s see here...”

_Click_

A collective breath was let out as the scythe collapsed back down into a sword. The Investigation Team got up slowly, everyone making sure they still had all their bits.

“Never. Open. That. Again.” Ragna demanded from his prone position. Hyde looked him over with concern.

“Are you getting up?”

“No.”

Ruby inspected the blade closely for a fuel source. “That energy blade is so cool! What powers it?”

“It’s powered by the Azure Grimoire. That’s the magic rock I have instead of a right arm.”

“So…,” Naoto drew out the word. “Your sword can only reach its full potential when you weld it.”

“Most likely.”

“So that sword was probably custom made for you. But you don’t know who made it.”

“No, I said it _wasn’t_ made.”

“Then where did you get it?” Naoto asked.

“When I finished my training, Jubei gave me some junk that once belonged to the “ _legendary_ ” hero Bloodedge. His sword Aramasa, and his red jacket.” Gesturing to each in turn.

Yosuke raised a hand. “What’s the jacket called?”

“What? It’s a jacket. It doesn’t have a name.”

“But it’s a _legendary hero_ 's jacket. Besides, the sword has a name.”

“Because it’s a sword!” Ragna shouted. “Name me one coat that someone gave a name.”

“Robe of the Fire-Rat,” Yosuke replied. “Or the coat of Pardan Beisrudd if you would prefer.” Ragna fumed silently for several seconds

“Say one more word and die,” Ragna breathed angrily. He grabbed his can of beer from the table and downed the rest of it. “As I was saying, this sword used to belong to the hero Bloodedge, who, a hundred years ago, sacrificed himself to stop the Black Beast for a year.”

“Umm…”

“WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT SPEAKING!” Ragna glared as the entire room glued their mouths shut.  “Here’s the thing. I am Bloodedge. I got sent back in time and I gave my jacket and sword to Celica. Which is where Jubei got them from.” Ragna gave a long exhale. “Now I’m done.”

Naoto leaned forward in her chair. “So you got that sword from this Jubei?”

“Yes”

“Who got it from you in the past?”

“Yes.”

“And you in the past got it from Jubei in the future?”

“Yes, and he got it from me.”

“But where did the sword come from physically?” Asked Kanji impatiently

“From an earlier timeline.”

“And where did it come from in that timeline?”

“From an earlier timeline. That’s where it came from, from a massive stack of earlier timelines.”

“And what's that timeline on top of?” Kanji asked.

“Idiot, It’s earlier timelines all the way down.”

“Hey.”

Naoto raised her hands placatingly “Just one more question.”

“One.”

“If you gave the sword to Jubei in the past-”

“Celica”

“-Celica in the past, how do you have it now?” Ragna waved the question away

“I took this jacket and sword from the version of me that turned into the Black Beast.”  The faces before Ragna were a sea of complete bafflement.

“Could you explain that?” asked Yu.

“No.”

Ragna glanced around, eyes falling on Hyde. “Hyde’s sword is currently in his arm. That’s weirder.”

“It really isn’t,” said Yukiko.

Hyde turned upon hearing his name.  Ruby tossed the bloodscythe back at Ragna. “Hyde, can I see your sword?”

“Sure.” Hyde stood upon from the table and straightened himself, hands in front. His left hand began glowing, then emitting a dark energy. His right reached forward and grabbed the energy at the base. Slowly he pulled back and a dark red blade was drawn out of his palm.

Ruby was shaking with excitement. “Soooo cooool!”

Hyde carefully laid the blade on the table. “Be careful, it can cut through existence. Well, _Existence_ , which is basically in-birth fuel.”

Ruby carefully picked up the hilt and raised it to her eye, sighting down the blade. She then turned it sideways, examining the pattern running along the flat of the sword. She dinged the flat a few times experimentally, then ran her hand across it.

“It’s incredible, the edge looks like it was cut straight from the metal. But the flat looks like whatever metal it was made from was infused with dust in this circular pattern.” She looked over to Hyde. “Who made this?”

“That’s a bit of a story. Vatista explained it to me.” Hyde cleared his throat before continuing. “Well hundreds of…,” he paused again. “Actually, short version is that an ancient robot gave one of her wings to an immortal so he could prevent a two and a half meter tall soldier from turning into a literal monster. Then it disappeared for hundreds of years, and now I have it.”

“What’s it called?  How did you get it? Was it cool?” Ruby looked ready to vibrate through the floor.

“It’s called the Insulator. It came out of my hand when I became an In-birth. I suppose that was kinda cool. A void tried to eat me,” Hyde paused. “Actually, it was terrifying.”

“Why your hand specifically?”

“Because I'm awesome. What about you, Ruby? Any cool stories behind your scythe?”

“Ooh, ooh, ooh.”  Ruby slid the Insulator back to Hyde. With a flourish she produced the folded up scythe.

“Don't open it in-,” everyone hit the floor as the scythe sprung open to its full length, “-here,” Yu finished with a face full of carpet.

“This is Crescent Rose. She's a combination scythe and high caliber sniper rifle. I built her myself. I'd had designs ready for years before I got into Signal. Once I had access to the workshop I machined the parts and built her in three days.” Ruby paused to inhale. “She's been tweaked a bit since then but she's basically perfect.”

“That's huge.” Teddie's eyes sparkled in amazement. “Isn't it difficult to use?”

“It's not that heavy once you get used to it. The recoil is massive, but that's part of the design. It helps me zip around. Plus if I need to take careful aim, I put it in full sniper mode.” Everyone ducked again as Ruby retracted the blade to demonstrate.

“Now the rifling on this isn't the usual style. I got the idea from a Faunus  huntress I met when…” Ruby continued down increasingly technical tangents as she disassembled Crescent Rose to show off each individual parts. Ragna took the chance to snag another beer from the fridge, having gotten lost during the explanation on the surprisingly complex blade-spring system. Yu kept sitting attentively though he understood only really every tenth sentence or so. Only Naoto seemed to be following along relatively well.

After twenty minutes the last piece of Crescent Rose was laid out in front of her. She gave the neatly organized array a thoughtful look. “Hmm, maybe I could…” Ruby selected a piece and began eying it up.

Hyde looked over at Yu. He'd been carrying around a sword in the tv world. But he hadn't really gotten a good look at it.

“Hey, Yu.”

“Hmm, what? Sorry I wasn't…” Yu shook himself out of some train of thought.

“You have a sword, and we’ve all shared our stories. So…” Hyde gestured vaguely with his arm.

“It’s really nothing special,” Yu mumbled. He turned his head and eyes away staring into the floor. A faint red tint coloured what bits of his face Hyde could still see. “Besides, Ruby still is doing her thing.”

“Wait just a minute.” With that Ruby disappeared into a cloud of rose petals and blurred limbs. The disassembled parts of the scythe disappearing into the cloud. Occasionally long sections would extend out and sweep the air before disappearing into the cloud. As the last parts disappeared of the table, the rose petals burst forth and covered the room like warm red snow. In Ruby's hands, Crescent Rose sat unassumingly, folded up in its compact from.

Naoto brushed the petals off her hat. “But where do the roses come from?”

Ruby hung her weapon behind her and leaned over the table. “Okay I'm done. Show me your sword.” She demanded, failing to notice Yosuke bury his head in his arm to suppress a snorting laugh.

Yu sighed and handed Ruby his sheathed sword.  Ruby turned it over in her hands. The sheath was a simple design. Smooth, grey, probably some composite material instead of lacquered wood. Both ends of the sheath had been gilded but that was the only decoration.

The hilt itself was a light grey, wrapped with cotton cords that might have a true black once, but now was a dark grey. The gilded pommel and guard the only concession to any decoration, though like with the sheath there was no detailing on the golden areas. Ruby supposed in matched Yu, after a fashion. The colour scheme certainly fit perfectly, and there was a certain no nonsense-ness about him that the rest of the investigation squad… lacked. The blade itself was ordinary steel. Ruby tried to flex it a few times. Sharp, sturdy, but nothing remarkable.

“So what's her name?” She asked eventually.

“Umm… it doesn't really have one.” He said sheepishly.

“Is it also a gun?”

“That's... not a thing here.”

While Ruby was examining it the blade with curiosity, Ragna was eying it across the table more suspiciously. “Does it have any special properties?” He asked.

“Nothing special, no.”

“Yu, where did you get this?” Yu mumbled something at the floor. The rest of the investigation team were attempting poker faces with various levels of success.

“I didn’t hear...”

“I bought it from the local metallurgy shop.”

The silence was eventually broken by Hyde.

“I guess that's where most people would get them”

“It's still a very nice sword Yu,” Ruby said placating, “and I could probably put a gun in the hilt if you want.”

“I’m good, thank you though.”

“Yeah, Ruby.” Yosuke had on a wide grin. “Yu doesn’t need a new sword. His is sword is just fine. Besides, it’s not about how big the sword is it’s how you use it, and Yu is an expert swordsman.” Yosuke winked; Yu’s blush turned bright red.

“Yosuke could you-”

“Isn’t that right, Yukiko?” Yosuke cut Yu off.

“Oh yes, Yu’s swords might not be as big as Ragna’s, but it’s got a really nice curve to it.” Yukiko said straight faced. “And it’s excellent at... penetration.” At this last bit a small smile slipped through.

“Thank you, now-” Yu was cut off again by Chie, who had a down-right evil expression on her face.

“And he’s so skilled with it. Really knows how to make an opponent beg for mercy!” Chie’s grinned across at Yu, who had buried his head in his hands. “I’m sure everyone agrees.”

Teddie waved his “oh, oh, me!” He plowed ahead, ignoring Yu’s continued protests “Yu can keep swinging his sword for hours without getting tried, he’s got un-bear-lievable stamina.”

“Yes,” Rise continued. “His stamina and resilience are amazing. He’s never let being on the receiving end slow him down at all.”

“And it’s not just one-on-one,” Kanji said, trying to sound normal though his cheeks were slowly reddening as well. “He’s not afraid to take on multiple people at once. In fact it’s one of his specialities.”

“All that being said,” Naoto said from beneath her cap. “He can have a really delicate and precise hand if the situation calls for it. Besides, I don’t think he could get used to a gun, he’s never ran out of ammo before.”

“See, Yu’s sword is perfect for him,” Yosuke concluded. “It allows him to be a very _versatile_ swordsman if the battle requires it. I’m sure none of us would wish to see him trade it.” The Investigation team nodded solemnly, or at least tried to.

“Are you guys done now?” Yu asked in a defeated tone.

Hyde leaned over to whisper to Ragna. “What just happened?”

“I don’t know, but I hate it.”

Ruby whistled softly. “Now _that’s_ a Katana.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Yu 'Man-Whore' Narukami.  
> #noregrets
> 
> Inspired by this post: https://inversionimpulse.tumblr.com/post/173866650962/an-observation-about-cross-tag-battle
> 
> Yes, this fic has been rattling around inside my brain for a year.
> 
> Thanks as always to my beta reader who, amazingly, is still talking to me.
> 
> These digression chapters won't be common, and I have no plans to do any more for a while at least.


End file.
